Knowing your worth is important in all aspects of life. When you understand how valuable you are, your life improves so much. In the world of writing, it is particularly important to maintain confidence because no matter how talented you are, you’re going to get rejected. A lot.

I’ll be the first to admit that this is a major problem for me. I struggle with self-confidence in most aspects of my life, and I really feel it in this particular career path. Sometimes I wonder if I’m cut out to be a writer due to all the rejection I know I’ll face going forward.

Every time I submit to a contest or publication, I try not to get my hopes up because I understand how competitive these things are, yet I always find myself imagining how great it would be if I’m chosen. Then when I’m not picked, I feel especially terrible.

Despite all that, I’m still here. I’m still working away at this career and I wanted to share how I do it so that other writers can find encouragement.

I Know My Fanbase: Even small-time writers like myself have a fanbase. Whenever I doubt my writing abilities, I turn to the people who love me and my writing. My biggest, most consistent fans are my mother and my uncle. They are a constant source of support and read everything I write. It helps to know that they will always have my back.
I Read the Publications/Contest Winners: When a publisher rejects me, it obviously sucks. But I always make a point to check out the issue that they published without my work. Oftentimes I realize that my writing didn’t fit the theme they ended up choosing. When I lose a competition, it also sucks. After reading the contest winners, however, I notice that the winner’s pieces were beautiful, and if I couldn’t win, I’m glad it was them.
I Remember Who I’ve Impacted: In high school, my short story about an elderly man in a retirement home won a very small writing competition (I was the only one who entered in my age group). After I read the piece at a ceremony, someone at the event told me how much she loved my story, since she was a nurse and appreciated the accuracy of my characters. In university, I was published in Iconoclast Collective Magazine. Over the Christmas break I received an email from an editor who said their grandmother was moved by my piece about the Holocaust and wanted to publish it in her Synagogue’s Shamas. Whenever I feel like I’ll never be a good enough writer, I remember that my writing made these two women feel understood and heard. That’s the stuff I live for.

This is what keeps me motivated to continue pursuing writing as a career. While these tips don’t necessarily make things easy for me, they certainly help. I hope they can assist you too.